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Halloween

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Halloween
Also calledAll Hallows’ Eve
All Saints’ Eve
Observed byAround the world, Second Tuesday in December (Norfolk Island)
CelebrationsParades, Festivals
ObservancesCostume parties, trick-or-treating, carving pumpkins, ghost tours, haunted attractions, bonfires, divination, apple bobbing, fireworks displays
DateOctober 31
2024 datedate missing (please add)
Related toSamhain, All Saints’ Day (cfvigils)

Halloween (or Hallowe'en) is an annual holiday observed on October 31, which commonly includes activities such as trick-or-treating, attending costume parties, carving jack-o'-lanterns, bonfires, apple bobbing, visiting haunted attractions, playing pranks, telling scary stories, and watching horror films.

History

Historian Nicholas Rogers, exploring the origins of Halloween, notes that while "some folklorists have detected its origins in the Roman feast of Pomona, the goddess of fruits and seeds, or in the festival of the dead called Parentalia, it is more typically linked to the Celtic festival of Samhain, whose original spelling was Samuin (pronounced sow-an or sow-in)".[1] The name of the festival historically kept by the Gaels and celts in the British Isles which is derived from Old Irish and means roughly "summer's end".[1][2][3]

Snap-Apple Night (1832) by Daniel Maclise.
Depicts apple bobbing and divination games at a Halloween party in Blarney, Ireland.

Origin of name

The word Halloween is first attested in the 16th century and represents a Scottish variant of the fuller All-Hallows-Even ("evening"), that is, the night before All Hallows Day.[4] Although the phrase All Hallows is found in Old English (ealra hālgena mæssedæg, mass-day of all saints), All-Hallows-Even is itself not attested until 1556.[4]

Symbols

Jack-o'-lanterns in Kobe, Japan

Development of artifacts and symbols associated with Halloween formed over time. For instance, the carving of jack-o'-lanterns springs from the souling custom of carving turnips into lanterns as a way of remembering the souls held in purgatory.[5] The turnip has traditionally been used in Ireland and Scotland at Halloween,[6][7] but immigrants to North America used the native pumpkin, which are both readily available and much larger – making them easier to carve than turnips.[6] The American tradition of carving pumpkins is recorded in 1837[8] and was originally associated with harvest time in general, not becoming specifically associated with Halloween until the mid-to-late 19th century.[9]

The imagery of Halloween is derived from many sources, including national customs, works of Gothic and horror literature (such as the novels Frankenstein and Dracula), and classic horror films (such as Frankenstein and The Mummy).[10] Among the earliest works on the subject of Halloween is from Scottish poet John Mayne in 1780, who made note of pranks at Halloween; "What fearfu' pranks ensue!", as well as the supernatural associated with the night, "Bogies" (ghosts), influencing Robert Burns' Halloween 1785.[11] Elements of the autumn season, such as pumpkins, corn husks, and scarecrows, are also prevalent. Homes are often decorated with these types of symbols around Halloween.

Halloween imagery includes themes of death, evil, the occult, or mythical monsters.[12] Black and orange are the holiday's traditional colors.

Trick-or-treating and guising

Trick-or-treating in Sweden

Trick-or-treating is a customary celebration for children on Halloween. Children go in costume from house to house, asking for treats such as candy or sometimes money, with the question, "Trick or treat?" The word "trick" refers to a (mostly idle) "threat" to perform mischief on the homeowners or their property if no treat is given. In some parts of Scotland children still go guising. In this custom the child performs some sort of trick, i.e. sings a song or tells a ghost story, to earn their treats.

The practice of dressing up in costumes and begging door to door for treats on holidays dates back to the Middle Ages and includes Christmas wassailing. Trick-or-treating resembles the late medieval practice of souling, when poor folk would go door to door on Hallowmas (November 1), receiving food in return for prayers for the dead on All Souls' Day (November 2). It originated in Ireland and Britain,[13] although similar practices for the souls of the dead were found as far south as Italy.[14] Shakespeare mentions the practice in his comedy The Two Gentlemen of Verona (1593), when Speed accuses his master of "puling [whimpering or whining] like a beggar at Hallowmas."[15]

In Scotland and Ireland, Guising — children disguised in costume going from door to door for food or coins — is a traditional Halloween custom, and is recorded in Scotland at Halloween in 1895 where masqueraders in disguise carrying lanterns made out of scooped out turnips, visit homes to be rewarded with cakes, fruit and money.[7] The practise of Guising at Halloween in North America is first recorded in 1911, where a newspaper in Kingston, Ontario reported children going "guising" around the neighborhood.[16]

American historian and author Ruth Edna Kelley of Massachusetts wrote the first book length history of the holiday in the U.S; The Book of Hallowe'en (1919), and references souling in the chapter "Hallowe'en in America";

The taste in Hallowe'en festivities now is to study old traditions, and hold a Scotch party, using Burn's poem Hallowe'en as a guide; or to go a-souling as the English used. In short, no custom that was once honored at Hallowe'en is out of fashion now.[17]

In her book, Kelley touches on customs that arrived from across the Atlantic; "Americans have fostered them, and are making this an occasion something like what it must have been in its best days overseas. All Hallowe'en customs in the United States are borrowed directly or adapted from those of other countries".[18]

While the first reference to "guising" in North America occurs in 1911, another reference to ritual begging on Halloween appears, place unknown, in 1915, with a third reference in Chicago in 1920.[19]

The earliest known use in print of the term "trick or treat" appears in 1927, from Blackie, Alberta, Canada:

Hallowe’en provided an opportunity for real strenuous fun. No real damage was done except to the temper of some who had to hunt for wagon wheels, gates, wagons, barrels, etc., much of which decorated the front street. The youthful tormentors were at back door and front demanding edible plunder by the word “trick or treat” to which the inmates gladly responded and sent the robbers away rejoicing.[20]

The thousands of Halloween postcards produced between the turn of the 20th century and the 1920s commonly show children but do not depict trick-or-treating.[21] The editor of a collection of over 3,000 vintage Halloween postcards writes, "There are cards which mention the custom [of trick-or-treating] or show children in costumes at the doors, but as far as we can tell they were printed later than the 1920s and more than likely even the 1930s. Tricksters of various sorts are shown on the early postcards, but not the means of appeasing them".[22] Trick-or-treating does not seem to have become a widespread practice until the 1930s, with the first U.S. appearances of the term in 1934,[23] and the first use in a national publication occurring in 1939.[24]

Costumes

People dressing in Halloween Costumes in Dublin.

Halloween costumes are traditionally modeled after supernatural figures such as monsters, ghosts, skeletons, witches, and devils. Over time, the costume selection extended to include popular characters from fiction, celebrities, and generic archetypes such as ninjas and princesses.

Dressing up in costumes and going "guising" was prevalent in Scotland at Halloween by the late 19th century.[7] Costuming became popular for Halloween parties in the US in the early 20th century, as often for adults as for children. The first mass-produced Halloween costumes appeared in stores in the 1930s when trick-or-treating was becoming popular in the United States.

Halloween costume parties generally fall on, or around, 31 October, often falling on the Friday or Saturday prior to Halloween.

UNICEF

"Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF" has become a common sight during Halloween in North America. Started as a local event in a Northeast Philadelphia neighborhood in 1950 and expanded nationally in 1952, the program involves the distribution of small boxes by schools (or in modern times, corporate sponsors like Hallmark, at their licensed stores) to trick-or-treaters, in which they can solicit small-change donations from the houses they visit. It is estimated that children have collected more than $118 million for UNICEF since its inception. In Canada, in 2006, UNICEF decided to discontinue their Halloween collection boxes, citing safety and administrative concerns; after consultation with schools, they instead redesigned the program.[25][26]

Games and other activities

In this Halloween greeting card from 1904, divination is depicted: the young woman looking into a mirror in a darkened room hopes to catch a glimpse of the face of her future husband.

There are several games traditionally associated with Halloween parties. One common game is dunking or apple bobbing, in which apples float in a tub or a large basin of water and the participants must use their teeth to remove an apple from the basin. A variant of dunking involves kneeling on a chair, holding a fork between the teeth and trying to drop the fork into an apple. Another common game involves hanging up treacle or syrup-coated scones by strings; these must be eaten without using hands while they remain attached to the string, an activity that inevitably leads to a very sticky face.

Some games traditionally played at Halloween are forms of divination. A traditional Scottish form of divining one's future spouse is to carve an apple in one long strip, then toss the peel over one's shoulder. The peel is believed to land in the shape of the first letter of the future spouse's name.[27] Unmarried women were told that if they sat in a darkened room and gazed into a mirror on Halloween night, the face of their future husband would appear in the mirror. However, if they were destined to die before marriage, a skull would appear. The custom was widespread enough to be commemorated on greeting cards[28] from the late 19th century and early 20th century.

Another game/superstition that was enjoyed in the early 1900s involved walnut shells. People would write fortunes in milk on white paper. After drying, the paper was folded and placed in walnut shells. When the shell was warmed, milk would turn brown therefore the writing would appear on what looked like blank paper. Folks would also play fortune teller. In order to play this game, symbols were cut out of paper and placed on a platter. Someone would enter a dark room and was ordered to put her hand on a piece of ice then lay it on a platter. Her "fortune" would stick to the hand. Paper symbols included: dollar sign-wealth, button-bachelorhood, thimble-spinsterhood, clothespin- poverty, rice-wedding, umbrella- journey, caldron-trouble, 4-leaf clover- good luck, penny-fortune, ring-early marriage, and key-fame.[29]

The telling of ghost stories and viewing of horror films are common fixtures of Halloween parties. Episodes of television series and Halloween-themed specials (with the specials usually aimed at children) are commonly aired on or before the holiday, while new horror films are often released theatrically before the holiday to take advantage of the atmosphere.

Haunted attractions

Humorous tombstones in front of a house in northern California.

Haunted attractions are entertainment venues designed to thrill and scare patrons. Most attractions are seasonal Halloween businesses. Origins of these paid scare venues are difficult to pinpoint, but it is generally accepted that they were first commonly used by the Junior Chamber International (Jaycees) for fundraising.[30] They include haunted houses, corn mazes, and hayrides,[31] and the level of sophistication of the effects has risen as the industry has grown. Haunted attractions in the United States bring in an estimate $300–500 million each year, and draw some 400,000 customers, although press sources writing in 2005 speculated that the industry had reached its peak at that time.[30] This maturing and growth within the industry has led to more technically-advanced special effects and costuming, comparable with that of Hollywood films.[32]

Foods

Candy apple

Because the holiday comes in the wake of the annual apple harvest, candy apples (known as toffee apples outside North America), caramel or taffy apples are common Halloween treats made by rolling whole apples in a sticky sugar syrup, sometimes followed by rolling them in nuts.

At one time, candy apples were commonly given to children, but the practice rapidly waned in the wake of widespread rumors that some individuals were embedding items like pins and razor blades in the apples.[33] While there is evidence of such incidents,[34] they are quite rare and have never resulted in serious injury. Nonetheless, many parents assumed that such heinous practices were rampant because of the mass media. At the peak of the hysteria, some hospitals offered free X-rays of children's Halloween hauls in order to find evidence of tampering. Virtually all of the few known candy poisoning incidents involved parents who poisoned their own children's candy.[35]

One custom that persists in modern-day Ireland is the baking (or more often nowadays, the purchase) of a barmbrack (Template:Lang-gle), which is a light fruitcake, into which a plain ring, a coin and other charms are placed before baking. It is said that those who get a ring will find their true love in the ensuing year. This is similar to the tradition of king cake at the festival of Epiphany.

List of foods associated with the holiday:

Around the world

Halloween is not celebrated in all countries and regions of the world, and among those that do the traditions and importance of the celebration vary significantly. In Scotland and Ireland, traditional Halloween customs include children dressing up in costume going "guising", holding parties, while other practices in Ireland include lighting bonfires, and having firework displays.[36][37] Mass transatlantic immigration in the 19th century popularized Halloween in North America, and celebration in the United States and Canada has had a significant impact on how the event is observed in other nations. This larger North American influence, particularly in iconic and commercial elements, has extended to places such as South America, Australia,[38] New Zealand,[39] continental Europe, Japan, and other parts of East Asia.[40]

Religious perspectives

Christianity

Christian attitudes towards Halloween are diverse. In the Anglican Church, some dioceses have chosen to emphasize the Christian traditions of All Saints’ Day,[41][42] while some other Protestants celebrate the holiday as Reformation Day, a day to remember the Protestant Reformation.[43][44] Father Gabriele Amorth, a Vatican-appointed exorcist in Rome, has said, "if English and American children like to dress up as witches and devils on one night of the year that is not a problem. If it is just a game, there is no harm in that."[45] In more recent years, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston has organized a "Saint Fest" on the holiday.[46] Similarly, many contemporary Protestant churches view Halloween as a fun event for children, holding events in their churches where children and their parents can dress up, play games, and get candy for free.

Many Christians ascribe no negative significance to Halloween, treating it as a purely secular holiday devoted to celebrating "imaginary spooks" and handing out candy. To these Christians, Halloween holds no threat to the spiritual lives of children: being taught about death and mortality, and the ways of the Celtic ancestors actually being a valuable life lesson and a part of many of their parishioners' heritage.[47] In the Roman Catholic Church, Halloween is viewed as having a Christian connection,[48] and Halloween celebrations are common in Catholic parochial schools throughout North America and in Ireland.

Some Christians feel concerned about Halloween, and reject the holiday because they feel it trivializes – or celebrates – paganism, the occult, or other practices and cultural phenomena deemed incompatible with their beliefs.[49] A response among some fundamentalist and conservative evangelical churches in recent years has been the use of "Hell houses", themed pamphlets, or comic-style tracts such as those created by Jack T. Chick in order to make use of Halloween's popularity as an opportunity for evangelism.[46] Some consider Halloween to be completely incompatible with the Christian faith[50] believing it to have originated as a pagan "Festival of the Dead".

Paganism

Celtic NeoPagans consider the season a holy time of year.[51] Celtic Reconstructionists, and others who maintain ancestral customs, make offerings to the gods and the ancestors.[51]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Rogers, Nicholas (2002). "Samhain and the Celtic Origins of Halloween". Halloween: From Pagan Ritual to Party Night, pp. 11–21. New York: Oxford Univ. Press. ISBN 0-19-516896-8.
  2. ^ Salomonsen, Jone (2002). Enchanted Feminism: Ritual, Gender and Divinity Among the Reclaiming Witches of San Francisco, p.190. New York: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-22392-X.
  3. ^ Ellwood, Robert S; McGraw, Barabara A. (1999). Many Peoples, Many Faiths: Women and Men in The World Religions, p. 31. Prentice Hall. ISBN 0-13-010735-2
  4. ^ a b The Oxford English Dictionary (2nd ed.). Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press. 1989. ISBN 0-19-861186-2.
  5. ^ Rogers, Nicholas (2002). Halloween: From Pagan Ritual to Party Night, pp. 29, 57. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-516896-8.
  6. ^ a b The Oxford companion to American food and drink p.269. Oxford University Press, 2007. Retrieved February 17, 2011
  7. ^ a b c Frank Leslie's popular monthly, Volume 40, November 1895, p. 540-543.
  8. ^ Nathaniel Hawthorne, "The Great Carbuncle," in "Twice-Told Tales", 1837: Hide it [the great carbuncle] under thy cloak, say'st thou? Why, it will gleam through the holes, and make thee look like a jack-o'-lantern!
  9. ^ As late as 1900, an article on Thanksgiving entertaining recommended a lit jack-o'-lantern as part of the festivities. "The Day We Celebrate: Thanksgiving Treated Gastronomically and Socially," The New York Times, November 24, 1895, p. 27. "Odd Ornaments for Table," The New York Times, October 21, 1900, p. 12.
  10. ^ Rogers, Nicholas (2002). "Halloween Goes to Hollywood". Halloween: From Pagan Ritual to Party Night, pp. 103–124. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-516896-8.
  11. ^ Thomas Crawford Burns: a study of the poems and songs Stanford University Press, 1960
  12. ^ Simpson, Jacqueline All Saints' Day in Encyclopedia of Death and Dying, Howarth, G and Leeman, O (2001)London Routledge ISBN 0-415-18825-3, p.14 Halloween is closely associated in folklore with death and the supernatural.
  13. ^ Rogers, Nicholas (2001). Halloween: From Pagan Ritual to Party Nightkl. Oxford University Press. pp. 28–30. ISBN 0-19-514691-3.
  14. ^ "Ask Anne", Washington Post, Nov. 21, 1948, p. S11.
  15. ^ Act 2, Scene 1.
  16. ^ Rogers, Nicholas. (2002) "Coming Over:Halloween in North America". Halloween: From Pagan Ritual to Party Night. p.76. Oxford University Press, 2002, ISBN 0-19-514691-3
  17. ^ Ruth Edna Kelley, The Book of Hallowe'en, Boston: Lothrop, Lee and Shepard Co., 1919, chapter 15, p.127. "Hallowe'en in America."
  18. ^ Kelley, Ruth Edna. "Hallowe'en in America".
  19. ^ Theo. E. Wright, "A Halloween Story," St. Nicholas, October 1915, p. 1144. Mae McGuire Telford, "What Shall We Do Halloween?" Ladies Home Journal, October 1920, p. 135.
  20. ^ "'Trick or Treat' Is Demand," Herald (Lethbridge, Alberta), November 4, 1927, p. 5, dateline Blackie, Alberta, Nov. 3.
  21. ^ For examples, see the websites Postcard & Greeting Card Museum: Halloween Gallery, Antique Hallowe'en Postcards, Vintage Halloween Postcards, and Morticia's Morgue Antique Halloween Postcards.
  22. ^ E-mail from Louise and Gary Carpentier, 29 May 2007, editors of Halloween Postcards Catalog (CD-ROM), G & L Postcards.
  23. ^ "Halloween Pranks Keep Police on Hop," Oregon Journal (Portland, Oregon), November 1, 1934:

    Other young goblins and ghosts, employing modern shakedown methods, successfully worked the "trick or treat" system in all parts of the city.

    "The Gangsters of Tomorrow", The Helena Independent (Helena, Montana), November 2, 1934, p. 4:

    Pretty Boy John Doe rang the door bells and his gang waited his signal. It was his plan to proceed cautiously at first and give a citizen every opportunity to comply with his demands before pulling any rough stuff. "Madam, we are here for the usual purpose, 'trick or treat.'" This is the old demand of the little people who go out to have some innocent fun. Many women have some apples, cookies or doughnuts for them, but they call rather early and the "treat" is given out gladly.

    The Chicago Tribune also mentioned door-to-door begging in Aurora, Illinois on Halloween in 1934, although not by the term "trick-or-treating." "Front Views and Profiles" (column), Chicago Tribune, Nov. 3, 1934, p. 17.
  24. ^ Doris Hudson Moss, "A Victim of the Window-Soaping Brigade?" The American Home, November 1939, p. 48. Moss was a California-based writer.
  25. ^ Beauchemin, Genevieve (2006-05-31). "UNICEF to end Halloween 'orange box' program". CTV. Retrieved 2006-10-29. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  26. ^ "History of the Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF Campaign". UNICEF Canada. 2008. Retrieved 2009-10-25.
  27. ^ McNeill, F. Marian (1961, 1990) The Silver Bough, Vol. 3. William MacLellan, Glasgow ISBN 0-948474-04-1 pp.11–46
  28. ^ "Vintage Halloween Cards". Vintage Holiday Crafts. Retrieved 2009-10-28.
  29. ^ Green Bay Press Gazette, October 27, 1916
  30. ^ a b Associated Press (2005-10-30). "Haunted house business getting frightfully hard". MSNBC.com. MSNBC. Retrieved 2008-11-18.
  31. ^ Greg Ryan (2008-09-17). "A Model of Mayhem". Hudson Valley Magazine. Retrieved 2008-10-06.
  32. ^ Wilson, Craig (2006-10-12). "Haunted houses get really scary". USAToday.com.
  33. ^ Rogers, Nicholas (2002). "Razor in the Apple: Struggle for Safe and Sane Halloween, c. 1920–1990," Halloween: From Pagan Ritual to Party Night, pp. 78–102. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-516896-8.
  34. ^ "Urban Legends Reference Pages: Pins and Needles in Halloween Candy". Snopes.com. Retrieved 2008-10-31.
  35. ^ Nixon, Robin (October 27, 2010). "Poisoned Halloween Candy: Trick, Treat or Myth? - LiveScience". LiveScience.com. Retrieved 23 January 2011.
  36. ^ Halloween fire calls 'every 90 seconds' UTV News Retrieved 22 November 2010
  37. ^ McCann, Chris (28 October 2010). "Halloween firework injuries are on the increase". Belfast Telegraph. Retrieved 22 November 2010.
  38. ^ Template:Cite article
  39. ^ Denton, Hannah (30 October 2010). "Safe treats for kids on year's scariest night". New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 22 November 2010.
  40. ^ Rogers, Nicholas (2002). Halloween: From Pagan Ritual to Party Night, p.164. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-516896-8.
  41. ^ "Bishop Challenges Supermarkets to Lighten up Halloween". The Church of England. Retrieved 2009-10-28.
  42. ^ "Halloween and All Saints Day". newadvent.org. n.d. Retrieved 2006-10-22.
  43. ^ "Reformation Day". Retrieved 2009-10-22.
  44. ^ "Reformation Day: What, Why, and Resources for Worship". The General Board of Discipleship of The United Methodist Church. 2005-10-21. Archived from the original on 2007-02-23. Retrieved 2006-10-22.
  45. ^ Gyles Brandreth, "The Devil is gaining ground" Sunday Telegraph (London), March 11, 2000.
  46. ^ a b "Salem 'Saint Fest' restores Christian message to Halloween". www.rcab.org. n.d. Archived from the original on 2006-09-29. Retrieved 2006-10-22.
  47. ^ "Feast of Samhain/Celtic New Year/Celebration of All Celtic Saints November 1". All Saints Parish. n.d. Retrieved 2006-11-22.
  48. ^ Halloween’s Christian Roots AmericanCatholic.org. Retrieved on October 24, 2007.
  49. ^ Halloween: What's a Christian to Do? (1998) by Steve Russo.
  50. ^ ""Trick?" or "Treat?"—Unmasking Halloween". The Restored Church of God. n.d. Retrieved 2007-09-21.
  51. ^ a b "A to Z of Halloween". The Limerick Leader. 2009-10-29. Retrieved 2009-10-29.

Further reading

  • Diane C. Arkins, Halloween: Romantic Art and Customs of Yesteryear, Pelican Publishing Company (2000). 96 pages. ISBN 1-56554-712-8
  • Diane C. Arkins, Halloween Merrymaking: An Illustrated Celebration Of Fun, Food, And Frolics From Halloweens Past, Pelican Publishing Company (2004). 112 pages. ISBN 1-58980-113-X
  • Lesley Bannatyne, Halloween: An American Holiday, An American History, Facts on File (1990, Pelican Publishing Company, 1998). 180 pages. ISBN 1-56554-346-7
  • Lesley Bannatyne, A Halloween Reader. Stories, Poems and Plays from Halloweens Past, Pelican Publishing Company (2004). 272 pages. ISBN 1-58980-176-8
  • Phyllis Galembo, Dressed for Thrills: 100 Years of Halloween Costumes and Masquerade, Harry N. Abrams, Inc. (2002). 128 pages. ISBN 0-81093-291-1
  • Editha Hörandner (ed.), Halloween in der Steiermark und anderswo, Volkskunde (Münster in Westfalen), LIT Verlag Münster (2005). 308 pages. ISBN 3-8258-8889-4
  • Lisa Morton, The Halloween Encyclopedia, McFarland & Company (2003). 240 pages. ISBN 0-78641-524-X
  • Nicholas Rogers, Halloween: From Pagan Ritual to Party Night, Oxford University Press, USA (2002). ISBN 0-19514-691-3
  • Jack Santino (ed.), Halloween and Other Festivals of Death and Life, University of Tennessee Press (1994). 280 pages. ISBN 0-87049-813-4